Center for Citizenship and Immigrant Communities

Brooklyn is one of the nation’s most vibrant metropolitan areas with a dense and multi-ethnic population. Its immigrant history is storied as in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, an American literary classic. With a large foreign-born population there is a growing need for affordable immigration legal services specifically for people with low-incomes. For that reason, CLINIC, other nonprofit organizations, and immigrant advocates joined to start such a program in Brooklyn.

An incredible story of perseverance, Catholic Charities, Diocese of Cleveland has recently reconstituted its immigration legal services (ILS) program, with two full time attorneys and a full time Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) accredited representative. Over 780 immigration consultations have been provided since 2011, and the program expects to generate 28% of its budget in fee income this year. The program’s current success is no small feat and was achieved with considerable effort over the last three years. Cleveland’s story is a case study for CLINIC’s capacity building services a

Our Mission:

Embracing the Gospel value of welcoming the stranger, CLINIC promotes the dignity and protects the rights of immigrants in partnership with a dedicated network of Catholic and community legal immigration programs.